


Corrupted Together

by futuresteven (orphan_account)



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Corruption, Episode: s06e18 Everything’s Fine, Episode: s06e19 I Am My Monster, F/M, Gem Fusion, Hurt/Comfort, connverse - Freeform, tw: some graphic(?) descriptions of pain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:01:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24904981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/futuresteven
Summary: Connie always made sure that Steven never went through anything alone. Why would this time be any different?
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe
Comments: 4
Kudos: 42





	Corrupted Together

**Author's Note:**

> TW: some graphic-ish descriptions of pain

It all began when Connie was on a break from studying. As usual, she tried to call Steven. They had made a habit of video calling each other whenever they had free time. Although talking face to face was still preferred, it was much better than not talking at all.

She called him, only for him not to answer. Confused, she tried to call him again. He didn’t pick up. The third time she called him was when she really began to worry. Steven almost _always_ answered her calls. Maybe she had done something wrong? But what?

Either that, or Steven was in danger. Both thoughts only worsened her anxiety. As she sat there in silence, staring down at her phone blankly, she silently pleaded for him to call her back. Even just a text would be okay.

What she received wasn’t a call from him. If anything, it was a call for help.

As soon as her screen went dark and a video of Steven repeating “Steven’s here to help!” over and over again began to play, she knew something was wrong. For a moment, she continued to stare at her screen.

Was he swelling and glowing again? The swordswoman stood, running out of the house after telling her mom that she would explain everything later. Priyanka knew that it probably had something to do with Steven, so she didn’t question it. Stopping Connie from helping Steven was like trying to stop ants from stealing food: it never worked.

Greg, thankfully, was already going over to his son’s house. As it turns out, Steven wasn’t replying to _his_ texts either. He explained that something happened with the gems that made him run away. Neither of them knew what exactly happened, but they did know that _something_ happened. That was the important part.

The Crystal Gems were already sitting down on the sofa discussing how they could fix things when the others walked in. Connie showed them the odd video playing on her phone. Greg, too, took a seat, clearly concerned for Steven’s well-being.

As soon as the oh-so-familiar chime of the warp pad rang out, they were already prepared.

“Steven!” Connie called out desperately, frowning when she saw that he really _was_ tall and glowing pink again.

“Huh?” His eyes widened once he realized that everyone was there, waiting for him to return.

“I knew it! You _are_ swelling and glowing again!” Frantically, she pulled her phone out of her pocket. “I’ve been trying to call you, but I came as soon as I saw this!”

She held out the screen to him. He walked over to the group as she lowered her phone. “What is going on?”

“I broadcast my subconscious sometimes these days,” He explained, shrugging his shoulders. “It’s really no big deal.”

No big deal? She glanced down at her phone again, only to grow even more concerned. “Okay, but… I can tell something is bothering you.” She held out her phone to him again.

The message was being interrupted by static now. It continued throughout the video. Instead of his original statement, he was repeating “Steven help!”

Steven held out his hands, “Ah, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m _fine!_ Awesome, in fact. Come on, you’ve seen me when I wasn’t doing well.”

Now Greg, the one who had been silent up until now, spoke up. “Steven, if being like this is what you want, then we’ll support you one hundred percent. Whatever makes you happy. But, if you’re not happy, if something’s wrong-”

 _“Nothing’s_ wrong! Besides, I don’t want you to worry.”

“We _are_ worried!” Connie exclaimed, shoving her phone in her pocket. “Look, if you won’t talk to them, at least talk to me! I _want_ to help you, Steven!”

She glanced apologetically at the hybrid’s father. He nodded slowly, silently telling her that he agreed with her plan. Steven, on the other hand, let out a sigh.

“There’s nothing to talk about, but if you must insist…”

They went up to Steven’s room and locked the door behind them. Connie took a seat on the bed while the giant Steven had become sat on the floor next to it.

“You know you can tell us anything,” The brunette muttered, concern still laced heavily into her tone. The other looked down and frowned.

“It’s not that easy. I don’t want to have to deal with this.”

“You need to stop running away from your problems!”

At this, he seized up and his face swelled. This only made the other even more scared for him.

“Steven, we should get you back to the hospital…”

His breathing quickened. He took his time finding a reply this time around. “Why do you _care_ so much?”

The question left Connie taken aback. She frowned again and almost sounded _offended._ “You’re my best friend, my jam bud, my liege, the one I love… of _course_ I’m worried about you!”

“I don’t know how to talk about it, why can’t you just take no as an answer?! I’m fine, I’m happy-”

“Then you don’t _need_ to talk about it!” She interrupted, holding out a hand to him with a desperate expression. Steven seemed to take the hint and hesitated.

Sighing, he grabbed her hand. A bright light took over their forms and two figures slowly became one. Stevonnie was _much_ larger and taller than they remembered being.

At first, everything seemed to be fine. They took a seat on the floor once again, seeing as how they couldn’t possibly fit on the bed. Then, just like how they had done it so long ago, they closed their eyes and tried to concentrate.

They remembered Garnet’s words from years ago. “Imbalance can cause your fusion to lose touch with reality, see things that aren’t there, and eventually fall apart. That is to say, if one of you are falling apart then your fusion will as well.”

Connie and Steven had exchanged fearful glances the first time they heard this. The fusion then continued with, “To find balance, you must understand your feelings, and to understand your feelings, you must see them clearly without running from them.”

Right.

Stevonnie took a deep breath. Everything was fine in the dark, all they had to do was listen. They could hear the clock ticking in the background, along with the wind coming in through Steven’s window. Then, suddenly…

A butterfly.

When they opened their eyes again, they were in their fusionscape. Instead of blue, everything was various shades of pink. This included the butterflies, which glowed just like Steven did. Just like _Stevonnie_ was.

The thoughts weren’t so bad at first.

Earlier that day, Steven had trashed the house. Along with this, he ended up breaking an anvil. The butterfly even had the courtesy to show Bismuth’s shocked expression once he had. 

Then, another thought came. This time, it showed Steven having a disagreement with his dad. Stevonnie watched in silent shock as he ended up crashing the car.

That’s when things went from maybe a ten to a one hundred.

Their surroundings changed rapidly. Stevonnie glanced around, confused by the darkness. As soon as they looked down, they froze. White Diamond stood there, looking up at them fearfully as her hands rested on the pillar. How were they _taller_ than her? And why was she _pink?_

Despite their confusion, they were quickly filled with bitter _hatred._ Stevonnie had never felt an emotion so strongly as they did at that moment.

White looked up at them, trembling. “Stop this!” She pleaded. “I don’t like this!”

“Too bad,” the fusion replied, their tone dripping with venom. Why did they feel so _vengeful?_ So many more emotions came over them now. Fear, self-loathing, anger, sadness…

“Let me go!” The Diamond pleaded again, now leaning back. “Please, you’re scaring me!”

“This is for everything you put _him_ through!”

Suddenly, they crashed White Diamond’s head into the pillar. Any hatred-related feelings faded away along with the hallucination. They were sitting within their fusionscape again, panting heavily.

In the distance, Connie was holding Steven’s hands in her own.

Even if she seemed just as shocked as Stevonnie did, she still tried to sound calm. “Did you… try to _shatter_ White Diamond?”

“It’s not like I actually went through with it!” He tried to reassure, leaning in and trying to hug her. She took a step back, letting go of him.

More and more butterflies surrounded them. However, the world around them shifted and they were suddenly in the woods near Jasper’s house.

“COME ON, COME ON! SHOW ME WHAT YOU CAN REALLY DO!” Jasper shouted. 

Stevonnie laughed maniacally and kicked her to the ground. They launched four shields around her, pinning her in place. She grunted while they began to make a huge barrier, floating in the air.

“You’re right, Jasper…”

**_Why did they feel so…_ **

**“I** **_have_ ** **been holding back.”**

**_…empty?_ **

The barrier grew spikes. Before Stevonnie could even think, they threw the barrier at her.

The last thing they saw was Jasper’s fearful expression. Thunder flashed in the background.

 **Then, they were running to Steven’s house, hiding** **_her_ ** **shards.**

“You _SHATTERED Jasper?!_ You’re… you’re joking, right?”

When Stevonnie went back to their fusionscape, the light pink had been replaced with a darker shade of fuchsia. Connie stood there in absolute _horror_ as Steven smiled.

“Oh, _don’t worry, Connie!_ I fixed that too! I can fix _anything.”_ He sounded so delusional then. “I can just keep messing up and fixing things _forever,_ and you’ll never have to know or think about any of it!”

“Steven…” She took another step back. Stevonnie had tears running down their cheeks, from both of them no doubt.

“How messed up is that? That I’ve gotten away with this for _so long._ You have _no idea_ how bad I am.”

As he spoke, Connie’s face remained still, frozen in shock.

“...You think I’m so great, and I’m so mature, and I always know what to do but that’s _not_ true! I haven’t learned a _thing_ from my problems! They’ve all just made me worse!”

More tears fell from Stevonnie’s eyes and they grimaced.

“You all think of me as some angel, but I’m _not_ that kid anymore!” He scowled and fell to his knees. Stevonnie let out a sob and took a deep breath. “I’m a fraud.”

“Steven-”

“I’m a _fraud!”_

She started to rush over to him, ignoring the butterflies trying to distract her.

“I’m a **monst-”**

“Don’t you _dare_ even finish that sentence.”

Connie sat down next to him and held him close. He tensed when she sighed.

“Steven… you must have been so afraid to show us this side of yourself. But, none of us are going anywhere. Greg, the gems, me… we’ll all be here for you no matter what. We're all gonna take care of you the same way you take care of us. You know what?”

She leaned back, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I don’t have your powers, but…”

Steven began to cry when she leaned in and kissed him. He kissed back as she began to wipe his tears away with her thumb. Maybe this moment made them both feel so loved that they didn’t realize how much pain they both felt.

Stevonnie groaned in pain, clenching their chest. What hurt so badly? They squeezed their eyes shut and fell over, more tears slipping down their cheeks as the pain only got worse.

Then they felt it: something sharp digging through their skin and poking out of their arm. This happened multiple more times. They were too distracted to even notice what it was.

Their fingers hurt. Their head hurt. It felt as though someone had dug a knife through multiple parts of their body and made the blade poke through the wound. Part of them realized that whatever was hurting them was hurting them from _inside_ their skin, but they didn’t know what.

The fusionscape disappeared within mere seconds. Steven and Connie lay where their fusion was once sitting, still feeling an immense amount of pain.

“Connie!”

Steven sat up and rushed over to her side. Her eyes widened when she saw that there, on his forehead, was a sharp, light pink horn.

“Steven…” She pointed to it.

He brought his hand up and felt it, only to freeze in place once he did. Just then did Connie realize that his hands, too, had purple splotches on them. His nails had grown longer as well and looked much more claw-like. At least he was back in his normal form?

They made eye contact. Steven’s left iris was pink with a white, diamond-shaped pupil. His right eye continued to be a warm brown shade.

The human sat up, only to wince in pain when she moved her right arm a little to the side. Steven realized this and helped her sit up.

Both of them realized it at the same time.

Two horns, similar to the one on Steven’s forehead, had grown out of Connie’s arm. They were just below her elbow and were surrounded by purple splotches as well. Both of them stared at each other shocked and at a loss of words.

“Connie, I’m sorry!” Steven cried out. “This is all my fault I… I _shouldn’t_ have fused with you!”

“This isn’t your fault!” She replied, wrapping her arms around his waist gently. “I… I chose this! I wanted to help you! I don’t regret my decision!”

He quickly hugged her back and nuzzled against her, making sure his horn wouldn’t hurt her at all. “No! You shouldn’t have to deal with this! You shouldn’t have to deal with _me…”_

“I…” Her voice trailed off and she shivered. “We’re both partially corrupted. That’s much better than just one of us being fully corrupted, right?”

“No! I’d rather be fully corrupted than have you suffer-”

“I’m not suffering,” She replied, running a hand through his hair. “This is much better than watching _you_ suffer alone…”

Both of them fell silent. At this point, only Steven was still crying. Connie was glad that she helped Steven, just like how he always helped her.

She’d rather be corrupted together than have him be corrupted alone.

**Author's Note:**

> hi hi! hope u enjoyed!  
> leave a comment if u want!


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